The Dragon Saga
Whale in a Teardrop
I think this belongs outside the General ROH Spam thread and while they feature parts of whats happening on upcoming shows in ROH they acknowledge tapings before they air so its not a spoiler:
Source: PWInsider
So basically, in short, The Briscoes got into a fight with themselves at BITW after they main evented the show, Mark was sent home, Jay was let to continue so he could defend the ROH World Championship and then he was told to go home too, so both Briscoes are kind of "suspended" in a way with no date on when they'll return or if they'll return at all.
I was really enjoying ROH this year again after a miserable 2011 and a decent 2012, but this weekend has really knocked the wind from the sails.
Source: PWInsider
We have been told by several people within Ring of Honor that The Briscoes could be done with the company following "Best In The World" weekend in Baltimore, Maryland. Nothing is confirmed but we're being told that after the show and their main event match for the ROH World Championship, Mark and Jay got into a shoot fight backstage, which resulted in Mark being absent from yesterdays TV taping.
ROH officials felt that Jay featuring at the event being the World Champion was more important than Mark and had Nigel McGuinness inform the crowd that due to an injury Mark wouldn't feature on the show. During the taping Jay Briscoe faced Matt Hardy for the ROH World Championship, after the match SCUM beat Jay down which is said to have been an extremely heavy beatdown and the atmosphere after it in the arena would be comparable to when Shawn Michaels collapsed during his match with Owen Hart on Raw in 1995, even featuring Jay being carried from the ring.
Nobody has been able to clarify what has resulted in the outcome but it's believed that either head booker Hunter "Delirious" Johnson or Sinclair Broadcasting executive Joe Koff suspended Jay Briscoe or told him to go home for the foreseeable future, not willing to put up with the antics of The Briscoes. Jay Briscoe is currently ROH World Champion and the decision was made that instead of stripping him of the title he would be forced to vacate it, ala Rob Van Dam as TNA World Heavyweight Champion in 2010.
This is yet another knock for Ring of Honor over the weekend, really disrupting what has been a great 2013 for the company. Everything has been positive until this weekend, their weekly TV show has been compared to WWE's NXT, their production quality has risen significantly and their PPV's are delivering, fans and fellow wrestlers such as Kevin Steen and Davey Richards attribute this to the removal of Jim Cornette last year.
What is worse for ROH is not only have they discontinued iPPV's but August is a big month for the company with them holding two big shows, one in Maple Leaf Gardens which some believe will be the biggest ROH show in history and two weeks later Manhattan Mayhem V live event from the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City. With The Briscoes seemingly gone (for now) that is one of their biggest draws absent from the shows, so a lot of pressure falls on top guys like Kevin Steen, Adam Cole, Jay Lethal and The American Wolves to bring in crowds, one which will collectively go above 5,000 people in two weeks between Toronto and Manhattan Mayhem V.
It'll be interesting to see if they try to cash-in on Davey Richards rumored impending departure from the company at the end of August and do a farewell tour likened to that of Bryan Danielson in 2009. That would be one way of drawing crowds.
2013 has been very good to Ring of Honor this year and for a while there they really had the most consistent product of the top three, but this really hits them hard. And if your expecting The Briscoes to pop up on WWE or TNA television, don't hold your breath because they are still contracted to ROH.
So basically, in short, The Briscoes got into a fight with themselves at BITW after they main evented the show, Mark was sent home, Jay was let to continue so he could defend the ROH World Championship and then he was told to go home too, so both Briscoes are kind of "suspended" in a way with no date on when they'll return or if they'll return at all.
I was really enjoying ROH this year again after a miserable 2011 and a decent 2012, but this weekend has really knocked the wind from the sails.